Beneath appearances
by DBack47
Summary: Studying under the tutorage of Maddie Fenton, Valerie discovers the key to Danny Phantom world, literally. Before she or Maddie realizes it, they are confronted with the fact that beneath appearances, the accepted reality can be far from the truth, and moreover, they discover the inconvenience of holding on to presumed assertions about what they themselves hold faith in.
1. Haunting of the past

_So to readers, starting something new here, and I hope you enjoy._

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**Valerie Gray was once a social butterfly, shunning ghosts and the rumors surrounding Danny Phantom alike. But when an accident involving Danny Phantom at her Dad's work causes him to lose his his job and her own social status, she resigns herself to some equipment sent by a mysterious donor and becomes the Red Huntress; a vigilante fighting ghosts and on a mission to have her revenge on Phantom.**

**That was 5 years ago. Time changes people, even the most resolutely determined.  
**

**Nobody stays quite the same...**

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The light from the police cruiser flood light surged through the shades and cast beams of light through the murky shade of late evening within the house, sending his heart rate skyrocketing as he clutched the grip of the shotgun, hands shaking as he struggled to maintain composure. He nearly fell over as the voice of the megaphone once again reverberated through the wooden walls of the house.

_**Once again, this is the Amity Park Police, we have you surrounded, come out with your hands behind your head. **_

He wanted to shout out them that there was no way that he would come out quietly. He wanted to shoot through the illuminated windows to display his belligerence. He wanted, most of all, to get out of the situation, one way or another, although right now his head was swimming and he couldn't think clearly.

"It's alright"

He swung around and fired the shotgun in an ear splitting blast that rattled the windows and overloaded his ears, drowning out all other sounds in a high pitched ringing that made him cringe. His actions were panicky, and he would have fired again had not a steady hand grabbed the muzzle of the shotgun and pointed it upwards, pressing forwards to match his own shaky strength.

Danny Phantom stood, somber and serious, as his hand glowed green and slowly bent the shotgun barrel away from him, unharmed by the fired shot. "Just calm down, its okay" he spoke placidly, gazing pointedly at the man, who stood, frozen in shock, unable to think what to do.

As if in a trance, he watched as the vigilante stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder, before everything faded into darkness.

Valerie watched behind the visor of her helmet in alarm as the man slowly collapsed onto the floor, the shotgun being gently taken from his grasp by the ghost standing before him, who then let it clatter to the floor, now useless.

"What'dya want Huntress?" he asked, not bothering to turn around. Valerie only let her gloved hand drift towards a holster on her belt, muscles tensing, listening for any other sound other than the muffled noise of police radios outside and the soft hum of her jet board, hovering below her feet. Her eyes dared not move from the only other illumination in the room; the ghost himself, who stood, head bowed and hands hanging at his sides limply, as though he were waiting for something.

"Is he dead?" she spoke at length in a tense voice. She though that she heard the sound of boots outside shuffling towards the front door and the sound of more guns cocking.

"just asleep. I didn't do anything more to him." Valerie only felt more unnerved by the sight of the man curled up on the floor, breathing calmly.

"Welcome back to Amity Park. It's been a while" slowly, she was withdrawing a compact net from its stored spot.

"Yes, you've been keeping eye on things haven't you?" he turned his head so that she could see him peering at her in his peripherals.

"It's been quiet since you left several months ago. What's with the absence?" So close, she was so close to being in perfect position to capture him.

"I wouldn't worry about that if I were you. It's just good to be back" He spoke in a sudden hurry, but sincerely, before vanishing into thin air, the illumination from his aura disappearing too to once again make the house dark save the lights of the police outside.

"Darn" Valerie whispered, and that's all she had time to do before a heavy hammer smashed the front door in and the SWAT team burst through, their flashlights swinging wildly as their heavy boots stomped over the threshold. She turned tail and pressed the accelerator, blasting through the large window where she had come in, not wanting to confront the police or their trigger happy tendencies.

She rose into the sky, blasting off from the obscure house below, surrounded by a dozen emergency vehicles. Amity Park twinkled across the darkened landscape, streets being like luminous rivers of late night drivers navigating the downtown of the sleepy city. Far away, red aircraft warning lights on tall radio towers flashed slowly and the glow of distant Chicago could be seen to the south, under a night sky with no moon. The wind was fierce and cold as the engines on her hover board struggled to make speed against the updrafts, chilling her skin beneath her steal suit and encouraging her thoughts to turn to warmer places rather than the lonely skyways that she patrolled on a daily basis.

He had returned after 6 months of no sighting that kept her thoughts churning as she struck out, soaring above the heads of a few hardy pedestrians that tread through the snow piles left over from the recent snowstorm. It worried her, especially since it had been so quiet, so quiet that she too had turned to cracking down on the petty criminals that could be found in the city's outskirts. No more ghost scares or mass ectoplasmic incursions that had terrorized the city since he had last been around, and it made her wonder whether with the return of the famous Phantom whether the ghost attacks would return as well.

But concerns could wait, her cellphone was ringing.

"Hello?"

_"Hey Valerie, we're waiting for you!"_

She smiled, delighted to hear the voice of Danny Fenton at long last after months of him being away at college. "Sorry, had some last minute housekeeping matters to attend too"

_"Well, we're making an order soon. Hurry up, we gotta finish dinner and get to the movie in an hour"_

"I'll be there in a Jiffy, Valerie over and out". She hung up and dove back down towards the city, letting gravity accelerate her till she felt like a rocket, slicing through the air as she returned to her mundane life although there was that nagging feeling that she was about to encounter a lot more trouble now that the Phantom had returned.

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_Read and Review! Chapter 2 Incoming._


	2. By mere coincidence

Valerie felt underdressed for the occasion, but Tucker seemed to be casual enough to match her own hasty attire of loose jeans and a wool sweater. It was Sam and Danny that were dressed more formally, although Valerie supposed that it was as much a date for the two of them as it was a homecoming occasion. After all, they only saw each other when they were home from school.

_The Spices Warehouse _was certainly a more upscale establishment than _Nasty Burger_. Well-dressed waiters bustled about, handling heavy platters of food while the front desk phone rang constantly and a steady stream of clients were lining up at the front desk. Valerie felt out of place; her family budget really didn't permit eating out often and thus it had been a while since she had seen the sight of tabled patrons sipping red wine and conversing without guffawing and snorting the way they did at the more youthfully attended and crude Fast Food restaurants that she worked at part time. It was a further cry than the secret vigilantism that she carried out in the shadows and dirty places of the city, making her feel even more tentative with each step, but with the sight of her friends at a corner booth, under the light of a warm hanging light that swung subtly above their heads, she quickened her pace across the plush red carpet, a happy smile crossing her face.

"Well hey! There's our Waldo" Tucker exclaimed as he looked up from his food. "We were wondering what happened to you, getting back from skydiving or something like that?"

"Ha ha Tucker, as if" Valerie said in a playful sort of annoyed, although was slightly disconcerting just how closely he had guessed to the truth. "So, anything left for me?"

"If you want spice city, sure!" Sam said on the opposite side of the table, tucking a lock of her relatively short black hair behind her ear as she turned her attention towards the latecomer. "Sorry, I'm a fan of hot spice and everything else nice and burning for the tongue"

"I thought you were a purist vegetarian and nothing else Sam" Valerie teased as she sat down next to the Tucker, who was ungraciously busy with a large slab of steak, despite the evil looks that Sam was sending him. "But really, did you order …"

"Spaghetti?" An older waiter interrupted cheerfully, setting a plate in front of her. "I was on the lookout for the fashionably late Madame"

"Thanks for waiting" Danny piped up "We all know just how busy Valerie is sometimes between 3 jobs and Amity Park Community College"

"You wouldn't believe it" Valerie rolled her eyes and dug into her meal, relishing the taste. "From here to Main street I have more hours to work than I think I can afford sometimes"

"You're doing a good turn for your father" Sam nodded. "So how fares thy city Valerie? Anything changed since we left in the fall? Any new misbehaving from my parents? I can scold them if you want"

"you already did" Danny raised an eyebrow as he finished his plate, eyeing a bowl of soup hungrily. Valerie listened with a sly smile, anticipating a rebellious tirade from Sam against her guard. "yeah" Tucker said "I saw it live at the banquet they were holding at the convention Center, Sam was like the Joker from the Dark Knight, sending guests screaming from the mere sight of her"

"I can do it again" Sam was practically rubbing her hands together. "They are sponsoring an Auction tomorrow at Dinner Time and I know just how much they enjoy their 'clinically disturbed' daughter cutting into their pipe dreams"

"Your parents do a lot of good around these neighborhoods Sam, I don't understand your enmity with them" Valerie frowned, although she knew that nothing was going to change Sam's devious grin on her face. "But really, it's been really quiet ever since you left"

"Like Amity Park quiet, or quiet quiet?" Tucker asked.

"Quiet quiet, no ghost attacks, no ghost diseases, not even the Box Ghost has shown up since the school year started up. Which certainly relives Mayor Masters, he nearly lost the recent election because of the mounting attacks"

"Which would have been _fine _by me" Danny grumbled.

"What is your problem with him?" Valerie retorted.

"A Lot" the three friends spoke simultaneously, making Valerie drop her fork in surprise. "Oh…kay, that's an implicit unanimous agreement for sure"

"The question is" Danny darkened, his voice lowering almost dangerously while his blue eyed gaze was abruptly fierce and subtly threatening "what do you like about him?"

Valerie opened her mouth to speak, but then realized that any favorable statement about Vlad Masters would tie her closely with the Mayor, which was infringing upon her own secret identity which was tied inextricably with the billionaire. Not to mention that there was something hidden about the way that Sam, Tucker, and Danny were looking at her pressingly, almost accusingly. This was something older than a seasonal development and stretched back in time to old High school Days, Valerie sensed, and knew better than to spit out words into a Lion's Den.

She quickly changed her tone. "Never mind that, it's just politics"

"Like Fire-eater Politics" Danny murmured before Sam jabbed an elbow into his side. "Knock-it off Danny, I did not drive back to my parent's hometown all the way from freedom and Loyola University to get into an argument about a stupid mayor"

"Stupid is right" Danny grumbled before another elbow in the ribs shut him up.

"Stupid like George Bush stupid" Tucker said with a mischievous smile.

"TUCKER!" it was Valerie, Sam, and Danny's turn to shout unanimously while Tucker cracked up. "Ha ha, you should have seen your faces just now. Relax, I don't even know what the word 'politics' means anyway"

"let's leave partisan topics for the insane asylum and stand-up comedy okay?" Sam glared at Tucker "you can save it for the MIT dormitory but not here!"

"How is MIT Tucker?" Valerie asked, looking over as Tucker took a long draft of a glass of a water.

He shrugged "hell on earth, as per the reputation. But I'm already getting job offers as a sophomore, so I'm not complaining any more than the internet memes that I make mocking my professors…and when I pull all night study sessions."

"I never knew you to be a hard studier Tucker" Danny said between mouthfuls of food.

"You need to be, especially considering that Professor Harding is _Hard, _No pun intended" Tucker said seriously. "And how is community College Valerie?"

"A lot better than everyone says it is. The class sizes are small, the homework light and the teachers good." Valerie said before taking a mouthful of her food, pausing and swallowing before saying her next thought. "Although your Mom is my favorite teacher by far Danny"

"His Mom!?" Tucker exclaimed "since when did your Mom teach Danny?!"

Danny shook his head "Tucker you lunk head, Valerie has been studying under my Mom since summer and you know it for…what's that degree called Valerie? Paratheol…"

"Paraosycology? Offered at the Duke University Rhine Research Center? Yeah " Valerie smiled proudly "And I must say that your Mom is the best teacher I ever had and your Dad is a genius when it comes to engineering ghost-capturing devices, like this"

She held up a strange looking device that looked like an oversized old fashioned pocket watch, complete with a complementary chain for conveniences of access. However, upon its chrome exterior, there was a small digital readout display next to a LED light that glowed Green above a matrix of coils that wrapped around the edge of the device. Danny seemed disturbed by the watch, Sam distrustful, and Tucker in love.

"What wondrous piece of electronic gadget is this?" Tucker spoke as if hypnotized by the slow swaying of the watch back and forth.

"it's a _Fenton Spectralameter_. It measures ambient ectoplasmic saturation of the atmosphere. Actually, your parents make a fortune selling this thing to ghost hunters internationally, they were even able to pay off most of their debts on their equipment and let me tell you, that's a hefty sum"

"I know" Danny said warily "it's the only way that they're paying for the tuition for both Jazz and me, and let me tell you, Harvard is not cheap regardless of whatever plentiful financial aid they gave"

Tucker's mouth fell open "Wow Danny, your IQ must have jumped from below average to genius if you transferred to Harvard from Wisconsin State"

"Shut up!" Danny jabbed back with a scowl. "I'm talking about Jazz dimwit" but Tucker was laughing anyway. Danny just ignored him. "anyway, when did they come out with that thing? Back in June?"

"I helped with the patent paperwork on it" Valerie said cheerfully as she looked at the Spectralameter with a glowing smile on her face "probably the greatest contribution to the field of paranormal science since the invention of the ghost portal which…by the way"

She was suddenly puzzled to notice that the digital readout was ticking upwards and the LED light changing from green to yellow and then orange as she hovered the watch more or less in Danny's direction. 5.7 was a high reading, even for natural ectoplasmic hotspots.

"_When Danny was 14, he had a bit of a run in with the Ghost Portal…in fact he activated it, giving him a severe electrocution. Thankfully it wasn't any worse, but ever since then all of our equipment has been confused by his ectoplasmic readout, which is unusually high, might I had. At first I assumed that it was just some long-term residual contamination, and as you know, all living persons have a low ectoplasmic signature naturally, but Danny's contamination didn't go away, it continues to increase year by year. Something around 5.5 the last time I checked it, but don't you worry about a thing, its perfectly normal…" _

Valerie nodded in understanding, recalling what Maddie had told her concerning the slight anomaly surrounding Danny. It was odd, but nothing to be concerned about. He seemed perfectly fine. What did seem out of the usual was the way Danny looked back as she put away the watch. It was an almost deja-vu moment, there was something in that serious way he examined her at that moment that reminded her of someone other than Danny, but she didn't give it much thought, but just waved a hand.

"Earth to Danny, you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah" he said slowly, almost cautiously. "So what else is new with my parents? I'll be seeing them later after the movie"

"Oh, they're eccentric as usual. Your Dad teaches me circuitry and your Mom does ectoplasmic physics, so between the two, I am probably among the most educated ghost experts in the world" she said jokingly, although Sam and Danny both seemed to take her words at their face value.

"Fascinating, isn't it?" Danny asked. "I'm almost envious"

"Really Danny, I thought you were glad…" and as Sam spoke, Valerie swore she saw her wink at him "to be away from home"

"Well, of course, what are you talking about? I'm not envious at all Sam" Danny said kiddingly "I am doing so well in Professor Donahue's Chemistry Class of Doom alongside Math for Dummies with Professor Can't speak English"

"Oh quite whining" Sam rolled her eyes "At least you see your teachers. Loyola has big lecture halls and even more students, and too many professor assistants, but I don't want to talk about my…experiences there"

"Why not?" Valerie asked.

"Don't ask" Sam said darkly. "let's just say that the administration and me don't always agree on unannounced mass rallies mysteriously organized by _A Reformer_."

"Cough cough Sam is a neo-Hippe Cough Cough" Danny and Tucker both spluttered, although Tucker got away without a condemning glare. Danny just grinned sheepishly. "Nothing Honey Sammeykins" he said before a cuff over the head silenced his antics.

"Are you asking for death, because you are half way there and I can finish the rest of it" Sam warned. Valerie and Tucker both snickered as Danny gave Sam a wide-eyed look in return, although something about the seriousness in Sam and Tucker's eyes seemed to imply some sort of inside joke that Valerie was not privy too.

By the time the clock was indicating that they would be late to the movie, Valerie felt like the group of friends had never left. One by one they had exchanged stories, explained their circumstances both good and bad, and provided a true cross-section of their individual lives, bringing to life Facebook photos and posts, and laughing at odd situations they had been somehow ended up in during the long months that they had been away from home. It did make her wonder about the way that life was slowly changing them, turning Danny Sam, herself and Tucker into different individuals than they had been while enrolled at Casper High school and how, despite their similarities, their lives were vastly different and unique in that matter, both on the inside and out. It was a comfort to know that deep down, they were still the same personalities as they had been several months ago at their graduation parties, but she did notice that there was a bit of shield that they each held a bit closer they had than before, hiding small parts of their lives that were not to be shared.

Everyone holds secrets, Valerie knew that first hand to an extreme; she had an entire vigilante identity to protect along with all the responsibilities of keeping Amity Park safe with it, but as a general rule of thumb, there is the part of mind that lets memories and experiences in, and then never lets them out. She often craved to know, for instance, why Tucker occasionally looked at her with a scrutinizing glare. Was he passing judgments that he hadn't made before he had gone off to school? Had he learned something about himself that made him treat her differently? What about Sam, and the _'rebellious lifestyle' _she referred too. What was that like from her perspectives? They shared their stories but it was impossible to completely share their lives. Even if they had had hours to talk, nothing could exchange the true viewpoint in which they each individually saw life.

Perhaps it was just paranoia or a symptom of nostalgia.

No matter now, Valerie thought as she rose to let Tucker out of the booth. Sam was searching her purse while Danny pulled on a black coat, fumbling with the buttons.

"What are we seeing again?" Valerie asked as she stood up.

"The Life within the Deeps, by some obscure director" Sam spoke with relish as she complied the bill and prepared to pay "I absolutely adore these more _unusual _movies. Beats watching the good guys shoot up the bad guys for 2 hours"

"Hey, don't diss Clintwood" Tucker protested "he's more tough than Chuck Norris and Arnold Schwarzenegger combined"

"Sounds like someone is compensating for something" Danny said as he lightly punched Tucker in the arm as Tucker's jaw dropped open in feigned offense.

"How Dare you!" Tucker waved his arms wildly "are you implying that I watch tough movies because I'm weak? I, for your information, lift weights now" and Tucker lifted his nose and closed his eyes with an air of superiority, even though Valerie knew that he was joking.

"How about we test that behind the dumpster right now?" Danny stepped in front of Tucker and drew himself up to his full height, flaunting the 4 inches he had over his friend. "I would just love to get beaten the same way you beat me on Skyrim"

"Is that a challenge?" Tucker said playfully, although not seriously.

"If you boys don't stop acting like idiots now I will send those pictures of the All Night Senior Party to your parents" Sam growled. "Now will you act your age and get moving? We're late already"

Valerie chuckled "you better take her seriously. I don't think you will be spending much time away from the phone explaining those photos to Mom and Pop if you don't do what she says"

Danny and Tucker looked at Valerie and Sam, and then back at each other. Danny grinned at Tucker. "A Quest? Sir Foley?"

"A Quest to reclaim our honor and photos? Oh yes indeed" Tucker looked at Sam. "I didn't know you had blackmail on us"

"LET's GO!" Sam said, amethyst eyes flashing as she swept out of the booth, bill in hand. Danny and Tucker just laughed as they followed her.

"Hey gang…what about the tip?" Valerie asked.

"Oh…Valerie, could you do that? I have to go take care of this" Sam said over her shoulder, motioning to the bill in her hand. Danny and Tucker were conversing avidly, not noticing their negligence.

"Sure" she didn't mind. Sam was covering their costs after all. "What's the total?"

"About 70 dollars"

"Alright…let's see. 15% is about 10 bucks so…"

Valerie noticed at that moment, even as her hand stretched for her wallet that a set of keys was left behind, lying on the plastic seat cover of the booth next to a crumpled napkin that had fallen from the rubbish covered table top.

She set down the money and grabbed them. It was a simple ring with a _Ford _key and remote, along with a house key, apartment key, old antique key, strong box key and…

Antique?

She looked around. The trio hadn't noticed her deliberation and were talking amongst themselves as they headed out the front door. She turned her attention back to the key and scrutinized it, shocked to see two small initials on the neck between the small finger ring and the old fashioned skeleton key arm.

_**D **_

The same D that Danny Phantom had on his suit, the same D that symbolized the other vigilante that occasionally patrolled the town, the same…

A beep distracted her, coming from the Spectralameter in her pocket, a single high pitched tone that indicated a high reading of ambient ectoplasm. She raised the watch to eyelevel and held it close to the hey, watching as the digital display counted up to 6.5 and the LED light glowed a crimson red.

"Valerie, come on!" Danny called, holding open the front door for Sam and Tucker.

Valerie froze, looked at Danny and back at they key, and without a second thought, tore the antique skeleton key from the main key ring and stuffed it in her pocket. She quickly strode over to Danny, handing him his forgotten item.

"You might want this Danny" she said nonchalantly.

"Thanks" he said gratefully, dropping the keys in his coat pocket without a second thought.

Valerie didn't look back to see his expression or whether he thought something was amiss. Her conscience was in revolt as she entered the cold of the night and followed Sam and Tucker to the parking lot, but she merely buried it under an old mantra that she had repeated since freshmen year.

_When it comes to Phantom, the means to the end is without question._

_**Read and Review! I own nothing nothing nothing! (Echo) **  
_

**_Thanks to the following for their reviews _**

**_Miss Frizzle _**

**_baby Cyclops _**

**_jeanette9a _**

**_Corin Manson aka Spectral Rose _**


	3. Considering who, where, why, what for

_Shoot, I forgot to turn in a paper to my professor. He said I could turn it in online even if it was late, but I gotta do it now before any more time passes. Don't worry about me; I can see the movie some other time…_

It was a horrible excuse in her mind. Not only did it sound vague but it also made her look irresponsible, which didn't earn her any sympathy from Sam, Danny, and Tucker whom had an implied understanding that their duties of schooling would be a taboo topic during their winter homecoming. Either way, Valerie was bidden to a higher intention and didn't care at this point about the costs, she could afford those.

She could not afford a missed opportunity on a lead to Phantom.

Snow was falling in gentle swirls as she drove down the interstate back to the Fenton Works, melting away furiously against the heat of defroster on the windshield. The 2 lane double highway curved its way through the outskirts of the city, past quiet subdivisions hidden behind banks of leaf bare trees and large retailers with their brand-name signs glowing in commercial allure to the high speed passerby's. It was a method of travel that she didn't quite like, preferring the absolute freedom of the sky to this conformist river of red tail lights and glaring headlamps, moving like an endless snake through a dark sea of night. She preferred the bitter chill of high speed wind and whine of state-of the art jet engines compact on the rear of the jet board, the moisture of low lying clouds that she would fly through, and the beauty of the city from above, without ownership or name, glittering like the fires of a volcano beneath her.

But in this situation, Valerie had no time to calculate the complex wind patterns above Amity Park and plot a route that would be free of wandering eyes. She just needed to get to Maddie, to sate her mind's anxiety concerning what she had discovered, and more importantly, what secrets it would hold.

She decelerated as she pulled up the exit ramp, slowing down for a red light, even though her mind was only just beginning to accelerate. What was the key? If it were a mere trinket, why did it have a considerable ectoplasmic signature? Why did Danny have it? Did it have a connection with Danny Phantom at all?

As her mind flowed through various assumptions and hypothesis, there was a quiet voice that interspersed the more predictable thoughts, suggesting other notions that derived more deviant questions from the main train of thought. Particularly one question that did disquiet her fixation; _you're compromising your loyalty to your friends. _

Friends? This was Phantom-_Danny Phantom. _It was like trying to disagree with the movement of a Tectonic Plate whose movement was as inexorable as the rise of the sun itself. This was a journey that was 5 years in the making from the day that her life had turned upside down because of a simple "accident" at Axion Labs which had nearly put her Dad out of work permanently and had closed the curtain on Valerie's old life of being seated in the shallow world of the socialites of High School and had opened the rabbit hole into the world of dangerous struggle with the paranormal forces in Amity Park, a life of suspense and danger, one that she had come to value and regard as a higher calling.

There was another question that arose: _You're acting without caution, without thinking_

Caution? This was a time-sensitive subject. Danny Fenton could discover that the key was missing any time and come running home to close the door on a break in the mystery that had haunted her for 5 long years. Thinking? She wasn't a person that changed her mind easily. It was too late to turn back, and even if she wanted too, it would be refuting a quest that she had devoted an immense amount of emotional energy and effort into.

Finally: _Does it Matter? _

She halted at a Stop sign as she entered the older neighborhood where the Fenton's lived, along weathered streets and overgrown abandoned mansions from a bygone era of Amity Park's past. But mentally, she stopped as well, recalling an incident from several months' prior, back when she had last tangoed with Phantom.

…

"_We can do this all night Valerie!" he called back at her. Phantom twisted unnaturally as she let out a barrage of ectoblasts in his direction, halting on a dime and then reversing course, rocketing past her so closely that she could of reached out to punch him. _

"_Just come here so I can get you into a cage!" she hollered back, angling her sled to pitch in a rapid turnabout, the G-forces of the changing velocity pressing down on her helmet and jarring her teeth. She watched him just in the corner of her vision, trying to keep a steady distance. A targeting program within her stealth suit let out an auditory tone to indicate that Phantom was within targeting parameters and she pressed down with her foot, watching as a turret on her jet board emerged from a hidden compartment and opened fire. _

_He strafed, letting out a pained hiss as some of the low-energy shots impacted, before suddenly dropping like a rock. _

"_Not this time Ghost" she whispered as she slammed on the airbrake and let gravity seize the sled, diving like a torpedo towards the city below. _

_The two of them reached terminal velocity, racing at an equal speed, both shuddering from the tremendous speed as they surged towards the ground. Both accelerating, both pressing their capabilities to the limit to exceed the other and either evade or apprehend. She saw him at that odd angle, falling upside-down, legs morphed into that long wispy tail that was glowing a steady green as he increased his levitation energies to full. She throttled her own engines up till they whined at an ear splitting volume and watched as Phantom and her drew alongside each other parallel. _

"_Gotcha" she thought as she lifted her wrist laser up to his eyelevel, a mere 20 feet apart, and was notified by the computer systems that two auxiliary cannons were matching her aiming and were prepared to fire. _

"_**Warning, Ground Proximity Alert: Altitude five thousand feet**__" her computer warned through her helmet. _

"_Valerie!" Phantom shouted "we don't have to do this!" he lifted a gloved hand and charged up an ectoblast; a single sphere of energy that was blindingly bright, making Valerie squint against its light. _

"_**Targeting Systems are locked. Warning, Ground proximity Alert: Altitude forty five hundred feet**__" she gritted her teeth and flexed her hand. This was it. _

"_Valerie!" Phantom shouted again "this is MAD, you know Mutually Assured Destruction. I can guarantee you nothing about what this ectoplasm will do to you, but I do know that it's going to hurt!" _

_She said nothing. _

"_You're forcing me to do this. Consider everything that you stand to lose! At what price will you destroy me!?" _

_Anger built up, frustration and without really thinking it, Valerie suddenly shouted "It's more than hatred, it's what I do!" _

"_**Warning, Ground Proximity Alert: Altitude three thousand feet**__"_

"_WHY!?" _

"_Because I…" she struggled with words "It's you!"_

_He was pained by a wound she had inflicted on his torso, looking back at her visor with pleading glowing green eyes, white hair flying wildly about. "Just give up for Pete's Sake and I'll leave you alone, always have and always will I promise you!"_

"_NO!" _

"_Then What!?" He was yelling at the top of his lungs "What about when I am gone!? What will you do then? You need this chase, this rush, the challenge…all of that will be gone when I am!" _

"_**Warning, Ground Proximity Alert: Altitude fifteen hundred feet. Impact in 10 seconds. Pull up**__" _

_She growled desperately, trying to block off his voice and just fire. But her damned hesitation was fighting back and she struggle to just press the button, to fire and eliminate him forever. What about when he was gone? She didn't…actually want that. But it didn't matter. Did it? _

_Did it? _

_Silent fears gripped her and stole her resolve, but the finality of it all abruptly came back to her and silenced everything else. _

"_**Warning, Ground Proximity Alert: Altitude seven hundred feet. Impact in 5 seconds. Pull up**__"_

"_Too la…" she had tried to say, too late, when he fired. _

_Self-preservation instincts kicked in and she blasted backwards, a second late because she saw the flash of green a moment later…_

_And regained control as the jet board automatically engaged the emergency thrusters and brought her to a halt. But she was blind, blinking as she attempted to dispel the emerald haze from her eyes. It was a trick! Nothing more than a flash-bang shot to blind her! She gave loose to her inner turmoil and let loose a whole of anguish, turning her head wildly as she tried to make out where he was. But all she managed to see was Phantom, tail and all plunging into the ground of a deserted playground, not even bothering to take a second look. _

"_**Tracking Systems disoriented. Computer recalibrating gyroscopes and sensors. Target lost**__" _

…

The glow of the FentonWorks sign drew into sight, the snow falling with more intensity, soaking the roads and beginning to accumulate on the sidewalks and frozen grass. At one time, Valerie would have had nothing at all to do with ghosts, considering them to be but a weird occurrence unique to Amity Park, and would have never been seen willingly anywhere near the Fenton's place with its strange metal structure on the roof and weird sign. Now her life was indivisibly involved with them, much in thanks for Phantom. Her father and she now lived much more frugally than they ever had prior to the accident at Axion Labs, and retrospectively, much happier now that they weren't saddled down with the baggage that wealth brought. She was a much more confident young woman yet much less haughty and socially selective than she ever would have been had she stayed on the A-list, and she was gifted with the abilities of the Red Huntress that she would have never experienced had she never encountered the elusive ghost that she had been so ardently pursuing her entire High school duration.

Phantom was as much a part of her identity and lifestyle as much as the Red Huntress was. He was more than a fixation for hatred, but actually, an obsession; an icon of understanding and control over her own destiny that she was subconsciously seeking without realizing it.

She put the car in park and turned off the engine, but sat in the vehicle for a few minutes, musing over her suddenly discovered revelations. _Did it Matter? _Was not a definitive, but rather a rhetorical question that she had unwittingly asked herself. To be clear, the question was not _Did Phantom Matter _but instead _How much does he matter? _And the answer was: _a lot; _a lot more than Valerie had ever quite realized.

She didn't hate him after all. She might have at first, but grudges fade over time. No, her continued obsession with Danny Phantom was a product of her search for understanding of herself, of why she had changed so fundamentally from a cynical A-List social jerk to…Valerie Gray, the Red Huntress. She didn't understand him, who he was, where he came from, why he was here, and why he did what he did; fend off ghosts, sometimes at the cost of the city. She needed to know, she needed to discov…

"Valerie, you okay?" a muffled but cheerful voice outside her car window lifted her away from her thoughts.

"Oh… , sorry I was just kinda distracted" she rolled down the window. Maddie Fenton was dressed, as always, in her laboratory suit, lab goggles lifted so that she could see clearly in the poor illumination of the evening, pencil in her ear with a clipboard with several diagrams of inventions in hand. Valerie couldn't help but smile in a bit of humor at the way Maddie was always the scientist, never one to rest when it came to a unanswered question, but also a warm hearted person that always could spare a favor or a grin.

"Well come in, it's freezing and snowing" Maddie beckoned "it's not like you to just sit and think, you're usually the one on your feet and moving at a mile a minute. So, what's with the late evening visit? Our Tutoring session isn't till after the weekend, I thought you were seeing a movie with Danny and the Old Gang"

"Sorry to bother you Mrs. Fenton, but this is the kind of subject that…is an on basis situation. You see, I found something relating to Danny Phantom". As she spoke, she retrieved the skeleton key from her pocket and showed it to her, the green light of the FentonWorks sign gleaming off the silver medal eerily, dancing off the inscribed _**D **_as though with a mind of its own.

Maddie lifted an eyebrow, turning serious as she took the skeleton key in her hand and examined it. "Well then, we better get inside and discuss this matter shouldn't we?"

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	4. Delving beyond doubts, into uncertainty

She was quirky.

Valerie had decided that the minute she had first seen Maddie all those years ago at an ice-cream social at Danny's elementary school. Even as a 1st grader, and even out of Maddie's scientist apparel, she could just see it in her movement, in her eyes that there was something slightly eccentric about this women that had come up and handed out ghost-shaped candy to everyone. Although she wasn't as bad as her husband, it was doubtless that Maddie was the zaniest woman who lived amongst the ten thousand or so residents of Amity Park and she was proud of it.

It would have been thus, insane, to suggest that the 1st grader Valerie Gray who made fun of Danny Fenton for being a _turd of a nerd _and had wrote an award winning essay when she was in 8th grade about how ghosts were "_The great paranoia of nothingness"_ would have come to Maddie Fenton when she was seventeen, sat down with her and pleaded obstinately that Maddie would teach her about ghosts. Absolutely insane, but here Valerie was, walking down into the basement laboratory of the FentonWorks feeling as though she were coming home.

It had taken accrediting by Duke University and a final year of schooling to achieve the required prerequisite classes, but Valerie had entered the _Fenton College of Paraosychology _as the only student of the two professors teaching the program; Jack and Maddie Fenton. It wasn't free; three thousand dollars a semester, and that was in addition to the tuition that she paid to attend the local Community College for her General Credit classes, but she worked hard and scrimped while her Dad made up the difference if Valerie fell short in payment.

Was it worth it?

The fluorescent lights of the basement flickered on with their usual hum as they warmed up, illuminating her classroom; the Fenton's laboratory. Tables crammed the room from wall to wall, covered with wires, gadgets, tools and drawings. A full bank of computers were crammed into one corner, buzzing with their cooling fans humming monitoring a number of various experiments that were scattered about. Lights blinked, jars of ectoplasm samples glowed upon their shelves, and Valerie was completely comfortable, lessons and lectures wafting through her thoughts, mostly taught by Maddie, who swiveled on her heel with a half-crazed grin on her face.

"Now Valerie, you're the scientist, what should we do first about this puzzle? And don't say the scientific method"

"Well, exorcism first?"

"I have taught you well!" Maddie chortled as she took the key and shoved a centrifuge off a table, making space. Setting down the key, she dashed off to a closet, vanished for a moment, before emerging with a crumbling and sad-looking ancient Native American Feather Bonnet before coming back over to the table and beginning to chant.

At first Valerie had laughed and laughed at all the crazy ideas that Maddie had. She had heard that the Fenton's had some nutty things going on down their basement, but when she had first walked into to the place 2 years ago, she realized that the rumors weren't even half of the full truth. Nobody would have believed what things Valerie had witnessed, not a single tale. The problem was that Jack and Maddie mixed the occult with more traditional scientific and engineering methods, creating a phenomenal mixture of wacky experiments, weird inventions and absurd hypothesis about anything that had to do with the paranormal. And yet, without a single reservation, she was having a blast. Learning about the Zanthos Theorum of Spectral Haunting, Rothman's Law of Ectoplasm, and the Dracmann spectral-physics was more than just reading and taking notes as Jack rambled on incoherently, it was Ghost Zone fishing, Myth and Fairytale testing, Haunt Field Trips and Ghost Gabbling. It was building basic Ectoplasm Power converters and taking Ambient Spectral Energy readings while fighting off feral Ghost ectopusses, and no lesson with the Fentons was every complete without a lesson of baking cookies and fudge. In short, Valerie had done more than just learnt about ghosts, she was coming to understand an entire world of the supernatural, from old Grimm Tales to the latest in Spectratific Gadgetry.

And why? She had received acceptance letters from the State College and invitations to at least a couple schools in Ohio and Michigan after all, but it was a allure of a field with few boundaries, many obstacles and limitless mysteries yet to be solved that had joined with the forces in her life that had directed her to take up education with the Fentons, and hopefully later on, a BA in Paraosychology from Duke along with a degree in basic Electrical Engineering.

The chanting stopped. The key sat in the pale light of the basement sullenly, unaffected by a single word that Maddie had spoken.

"It's clean" Maddie declared as she put away her feather bonnet "Can't be too careful with this sort of stuff"

"Oh, I know" Valerie thought back to the night of the Revenge of Zombie Turkey in the Kitchen, shuddering. "Safety is priority number one, Ghost Busting number two"

"Righto Val, by the way, aren't you supposed to be seeing Danny Tonight with Sam and Tucker?"

"Yes" she said glumly "I sort of…excused myself"

"Why? It's just a key. Where did you find it?"

Valerie wetted her lips as she tried to form some sort of cover for the fact that she had found it on Danny, her son. As much as she trusted Maddie and Danny both, she wasn't about to upset the status quo. After all, stating that it was _Danny_ from which she had stolen the key from would more or less associate him with the situation, which would create trouble for him, and indirectly for her, as hard-to answer questions and their consequences would eventually arise.

"At…at the old antique store on Missouri River Boulevard"

"Interesting. Seems suitable, although it's hardly an antique" Maddie said as she examined the key with a magnifying glass, before producing a metal pellet from a drawer and hovering it over the object. Valerie's eyebrow went up as the key abruptly snapped upwards with a loud _CLACK _and coupled with the pellet in Maddie's hand, much to her surprise.

"This is no ordinary object, it's an alloy of ectouranium, with a significant amount of ectoplasmic energy stored within it"

Valerie peered over Maddie's shoulder, curious. "Ectouranium? Didn't know that it was magnetic"

"Only with another piece of ectouranium, and it depends on how saturated the metal is ectoplasmic energy" Maddie explained, her voice growing more serious and business-like "I don't have any data yet, but it appears that this is a Ghost Zone artifact of sorts, however new…Valerie?"

"Yes?"

"What attracted your attention in the first place. Honestly, I thought that you were joking when you showed me this, I assumed that it was some gift shop trinket of sorts. And why did you just leave Danny and company for the sake of something seemingly so trivial, its not like you could just tell that it was out of the ordinary"

"because of this" Valerie said assertively, inwardly worried that Maddie would get suspicious. She took out the Fenton Spectralameter, holding it close to the key, watching as the display indicated a high ectoplasmic contamination. "That's not normal"

"By Pariah Dark you're right" Maddie said with a grin "This is quite extra-ordinary. Many low level ghosts don't share this high an energy signature. Well done Valerie, you'll make an excellent Ghost Hunter yet"

_I am the Red Huntress, of course Maddie _Valerie couldn't help but chuckle at the irony of the statement, but she kept the thought to herself. The Red Huntress was a secret for her Dad alone, and somehow Danny Phantom himself. Outside of those two, she didn't want any more attention, preferring the veil of privacy and, for that matter, freedom to do as she pleased. But Maddie, and Jack, seemed to be somewhat disconnected with reality and it was easy to hide truths from them, and make them believe lies. After all, belief in Ghosts without a shred of disbelief required a certain degree of disillusion with what was considered 'Rational' in the first place. She considered herself; she was the Red Huntress, which was an irrational lifestyle on her part, stealing away her time and energy for the pursuit of an obscure principle of justice and a long standing grudge against ghosts…which as a whole sounded absolutely crazy. At least she remained grounded in the comings and goings of a more mundane life-Jack and Maddie had the luxury of being completely divorced from even that, holed up in their own private sanatorium called their home.

"Thank you Mrs. Fenton" but her gratitude was lost as Maddie sprang into action, flurrying through the mess of the laboratory, gathering a multiplicity of things. "But what does it mean? Does it have a connection with Phantom?"

"Why of course!" Maddie was accumulating a pile of notebooks, laptops, electric cables, table stands and office supplies in her hands "what do you think the D means otherwise!? This might be his connection with the long-fabled Monarchy of Ghosts! His heirloom to the Throne as Price of the Ghost Zone! Or maybe it unlocks a chest he has that hidden somewhere deep within the Zone, that contains his deepest secrets. Just think of it, this might literally be the key to his obsessions, his purpose, his origins and his future!"

"You're rambling Mrs. Fenton"

"Of course I am! We are on the brink of discovery Valerie, don't you see?! What have I been teaching you? When you see a pathway forward towards the answer, go for it! No time to waste!"

"Isn't it kinda late?"

"Time is no master of science unless we are dealing with a chemical reaction of some sort" Maddie dropped the enormous pile on the floor into a great heap "and I was getting bored anyway. Hold on, let me go get some Coffee, want some?"

"No thanks…you haven't drank any yet?"

Maddie paused, eyes wide, hair frazzled, mouth in a goofy grin, mimicking her husband's behavior almost flawlessly. Valerie was holding back peals of laughter at the fact that this was Maddie at nearly nine o'clock in the evening, without any sort of energizer, going full blast.

"No, no I haven't. But sleep belongs to the creatures of the day and tonight, I shall work like a ghost!"

Valerie whistled softly as Maddie shuttled upstairs. She tried to imagine her as a mother, struggling to reconcile Jazz's quiet nature and Danny's sober moods with the home environment they were raised in. Maybe it was a resulting reaction in response to their parent's absolute craziness at times, although she knew that Maddie was not that overboard. She just tended to get overexcited when she was working, especially when the trail of mystery was fresh and hot. Besides those times, in a more regular setting, she was kind, reasonable, compassionate, often quiet, but vivacious and lively, sweet and caring. Of course she got grumpy and rather fierce when she was in a bad mood, and her character flaws were numerous, but it was why Valerie felt close to her, almost as though she were some sort of Aunt, the absolutely peculiar one that she never had.

A more unhappy thought crossed her mind-it was only a matter of time before Danny realized that something was wrong. It was best, quite clearly, that Valerie keep this situation subtle and insignificant as possible. The connection between Danny and Ghosts was for her curiosity alone, and although it was certainly important to Danny's parents, only under proper explanation would the situation remain calm and clear. At the moment, Valerie had no idea whether the key meant anything at all, and even less why Danny had it, but it was baffling. Whatever the link was, it was most likely something Danny considered personal and would not be happy to find out what she had done. Maybe she could just act casual and hand it back to him. She might get a rebuke, but she hoped she could smooth it over…

Regret blossomed once again. Ethics were being compromised, trust was being spent at the gain of selfish curiosity. She knew absolutely nothing about what this meant to him, and yet she was using no discretion, no transparency with her actions. What was the extent to which her integrity separated her ability to discern between what was right with her ability to decide what was wrong? Was she being foolish? To what extent would this path take her? It wasn't hard to imagine that if Danny was suddenly implicated with being associated with ghosts, the relationship between him and his mother would be ruined. Maddie was nearly fanatical about Ghost matters, and Danny seemed to be almost equal in her aversion concerning them. And if the affect on the relationship between Danny and Maddie might be bad, what about her own friendship with Danny?

She had to take at least a certain amount of precaution. Recklessness was only so rewarding, and the consequences might outweigh those.

And then there was that flicker.

She might have imagined it. The clock on the wall, plain and dull, unassociated with the laboratory below, seemed to shudder, the second hand delaying in its slaving task about the face. Everything seemed to freeze and **stop **for just a split second. The light stopped flickering, the computers stopped humming, the air seemed to stop moving and there was a slight dash of complete silence that lasted less than half a second. Within the corner of her eye, she saw a ghost, robed in purple, a solemn and resolute expression on his face.

And then it was over. Her head swam and her vision flared, as though she were coming in from a bright day into a darkened room with the temporary blindness that resulted. A headache flared and her center of balance was slightly disturbed.

"What's wrong?" a hand gripped her shoulder, Maddie's hand.

"Migrane, bad one" Valerie said as she leaned on the wall, blinking to clear her sight. "It's going away"

"You need more sleep"

"Yeah, I do" Valerie laughed quietly, but warily. That was unnatural. Her attention turned to the closed ghost portal, wondering if whether the heavy blast door really were guaranteed proof against leakage of the energies and matter from the dimension behind them. But she was tired, come to think of it. Too many nights on patrol and too many mornings spent doing homework for Mrs. Fenton and the Community College made for a sleep deprived Valerie, and she knew it.

But what if it had been something?

She felt an ominous feeling of foreboding as Maddie began to set up a work space. Trouble seemed to be never be far away when ghosts were concerned.

* * *

**Next Chapter: When in wonderland, do as Alice Does**

**What does it mean? You guess. My story to tempt you with...ha ha. **

**THANK YOU ONE AND ALL REVIEWERS! My enthusiasm goes out to particularly the repeat reviewers that have been faithful in following and reading, you deserve my gratitude and I give it wholeheartedly. **

**And so...to the following. **

**royalfuschia**

**Minilopsided**

**Living Encyclopedia**

**jeanette9a**

**CharlieBoneFan**

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**Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet** _Special Thanks for reading and reviewing_


	5. Leaving Sense

Silence dominated the laboratory. Valerie was used to this; she called it "the study of silence" due to the intense concentration that Maddie maintained while remaining absolutely quiet, hardly making a noise even as she moved between the tables and examined various instruments. The speed in which she had moved to set up a full series of tests and probes surrounding the key was astonishing, yet not surprising.

Over the months of being Maddie's pupil, Valerie had come to realize that much of what was too be learned was through intuition and self-realization. It was almost the direct opposite of traditional schooling that emphasized drills and exhaustive memorization and thus, at first it was extremely frustrating. Maddie had expected her to do many things to which there was no written instruction or guidelines, such as _Operate a diagnostic test on an ectoplasm sample and create a derivative of the algebraic curve of all energy inputs_,or, _create a circuit using only ectoplasmic alloys that is able to modify the electric resonance of silicon to that of Ghost Zone atmospheric levels. _It was a challenge, but with hard work but it paid off, Valerie had decided that learning through application rather than vague theories was far faster and effective than anything she had learned in school.

She cleared her throat, announcing her desire to speak. "So…um, any results. Anything I can do?"

Maddie merely looked at her and smiled broadly. "You are smart. You can do it"

_Do what? _This game of guess miss and hit was bemusing. She nodded "I'll take a look"

Stepping towards the table where the main tests were running, Valerie examined what her mentor had done. The key had been mounted on a make-shift stand and wrapped in conductive foil to which a myriad of wires had been attached. The wires ran to several devices with flashing lights and changing digital readouts, but the outputs all were wired into a single breadboard that was subsequently attached via a USB cord to a laptop; running a series of programs that monitored and projected data. She read off the program names in her head.

**Electrical Timbre Variation **

**Radiation Integration **

**Non-factored Ectoplasm Qualities**

**Oscillation of test jolts**

"Well…it looks like" Valerie paused, trying to figure out the data "we have a dynamo energy, but its static, as you can see with the flat line on the dependent variable. So...this is an inert object till a proper input is given."

"Ah, now you're cooking" Maddie said enthusiastically "Go on"

"But…" Valerie wanted to protest; this was science that was far advanced to anything Maddie had taught her before, but she supposed that she could make some logical deductions.

"Well, I can see that you are running a series of electrical patterns through the wires and, according to the outputs, there's some sort of pattern."

"Excellent!" Maddie exclaimed "You see, the key itself, the physical key, is but a template for an ectoplasmic energy matrix, the likes of which I haven't ever seen before. This sort of complexity is the sort seen in rudimentary ghosts, but to see it in a Ghost Zone artifact, now this is truly unprecedented"

"So, the key is not actually a key?"

"Probably not. The design is too simple to fit an actual lock although if you look carefully, you can see some scratches on the teeth of the unlocking arm, so there is a possibility that there is a matching lock to it"

"Where?" Valerie asked.

Maddie just shrugged "probably not on earth. Ghost Zone somewhere, although you would be hard pressed to find the unique door that matches the key design."

Valerie's next question was more pointed, her eyes narrowing "Who?"

Maddie paused, frowned, pondered, before looking at Valerie was a suggestive aside glance "Perhaps the great Danny Phantom himself. The greatest mystery of the Ghost Zone is at our fingertips"

"Will he come looking for it?"

"Ah, smart girl. Are you thinking what I am thinking?"

"A trap? Key is bait?"

"Since when were you so smart?" Maddie chuckled. "But back to the key itself. What I am really curious about is the energy stored within the thing because it stands at a steady 5, and its latent energy, which implies that it's some sort of mechanism. With a certain energy signature, it will activate the mechanism, which is the primary purpose…I think."

"So, what does it do?"

"Million dollar question Valerie, one that I want to answer asap so that we can begin experimentation, although…do you have the time?"

"Certainly" Valerie said, although she realized just moments after she spoke that she had done so without thinking. Glancing at the clock told her that her curfew would be over in about an hour and that her Dad would be quick in grounding her for violating it, but of course, she was approaching a rapid apex of intentions and emotion that was quickly displacing any other considerations; thoughts about questions about Danny Phantom, questions about Danny Fenton and his connections, and just a sort of curiosity that is insatiable till satisfied.

"Valerie?" Maddie's voice shook her from her sudden daze. "I do want to know, why are you lying about where you found this?"

Her stomach lurched violently and she knew just from the way Maddie's eyebrow was raised that her facial expression had betrayed her surprise. "What makes you say that?". Maddie didn't strike her as the most perceptive person when it came to deducing whether someone was being truthful or not, but somehow, Valerie's little lie was splayed out and caught like a rabbit in a trap and it was a sinking feeling.

"Because this sort of artifact is Ghost Zone native only. I personally comb through Craigslist and Ebay looking for this sort of stuff and I have never found anything even remotely close to this artifact in terms of magnitude or significance. To find this at random at an antique store at this hour in the middle of the school year is unusual, even for me, so where did you find it?"

* * *

_Racing_

_Slowing _

_Stopping _

_Slowing _

_Stillness…_

_Silence…_

_Deep within the Ghost Zone, time slowed. A stillness, like permafrost, had taken ahold of the fabric of reality and stopped it, down to the molecular level. If the planet Earth had poles of magnetism and cardinal direction, than the Ghost Zone dimension had poles of time. Here, the laws of existence stopped applying and were instead, theory purely. Beyond the churching forces that dictated the mechanisms of life and death, here was a place of nexus between what was real and what wasn't. To all those that knew it, it was just called The Clocktower. The timekeeper was known as Clockwork. _

_Danny Phantom felt that he knew him personally, although he could not have comprehended the true scale of responsibilities of the timekeeper. The world turned not upon a pivot, but instead upon a vast ocean of changing events and timelines that applied to not one city or region, but countless countries and continents. He moderated them, although he never played a direct hand, watching and waiting for the occasional temporal knot that he had to straighten out. There was very little that he actually could play a hand in, although there were some fascinating exceptions. _

_Amity Park was one of the biggest ones; a place on earth where the laws of time and space thinned and he could intervene, sort of like the Island but without being constantly moved. For most of history, Clockwork had viewed the place with a sort of apprehension, it was so tempting to just reach out and make actual _change _instead of just watching it, but the laws of the butterfly effect and chaos theory had forbidden him to do so. That was, till the Fentons and Danny Phantom himself. _

_Vlad Masters had been a possible diplomat, with whom he had been, at one time, in serious negotiations with, but he was too twisted to be adaptable to the role. Danny Phantom on the other hand…_

_Clockwork enjoyed watching him learn and grow, guiding him unwittingly through the slow and long process of spatial removal and linear enablement, but…Valerie was going to be a problem. _

_She was out of his control, being too human for him to intervene, and she was heading on a path towards illumination, something that he understood, was a dangerous thing. Knowledge was power, and being able to control who knew and who didn't was more powerful still, but it had its risks. Valerie was dancing dangerously close to that. He didn't like that. _

_Who was she, this young woman with a strange obsession with the paranormal world? She was tall and sharp; elegant with a notion of keen ambition within her eyes. Neither ethnicity nor background made a difference; she was exceptionally perceptive but rather thick headed at times, and Vlad Masters had equipped her to wield destruction and disruption. _

_Clockwork watched Maddie grill Valerie concerning the gateway…the damned thing, and slowly ring the truth from her. This was good, it would create friction between Danny and his mother, but the bad thing was that the gateway was still in their possession. Danny was an idiot for being so careless with the thing. It was unlikely that the gateway would be triggered but still…_

_Maddie had been lecturing Valerie for approximately 19 minutes, 43 seconds and 21 milliseconds and a half. Danny would be returning home in exactly 45 minutes and 12 seconds. An unknown event was approaching within 2 minutes, 27 seconds and 71 milliseconds. Not enough time for Danny to intervene. Things were deteriorating rapidly. If she did break in, she would find herself in a situation that no one could of prepared her for _

* * *

Valerie was sitting down, sort of dazed, eyes wide, heart sunk. The truth was out. Maddie was furious. Her voice was icy and she talked to her without actually looking directly at her, a further indication of her disappointment. The conversation had lasted a while now, starting with the revelation of how she had stolen the key from Danny, and then a drill of questions about how she had found the key, and finally a lecture about why what she had done it was wrong. Strangely enough, the entire time Maddie had continued to work even as she spoke harshly, Valerie being able to do nothing more than just answer the questions and watch as Maddie continued to work-without her. The scolding did seem to be wrapping up, thankfully; she felt like dirt.

"So it was Danny?"

Valerie said nothing

"Answer me"

"yes" Valerie said quietly.

"And this is the truth?"

"yes"

"Valerie, I hope you understand that this is more than just a happenstance, you have done something highly unethical, and as a future parapsychologist, I can't tolerate that"

"yes "

"Your punishment is the same as I laid out in my course syllabus; 1 week of suspension from this program and a research paper on proper scientific ethics."

"Yes Mrs. Fenton"

"Valerie, understand that I am doing this not only because I am upset that you would _steal _without a second thought, but without question. If it really was Danny, then you should have told me first, and let me handle it. I am Danny's mother and such issues are in my domain, not yours. And as a scientist, you always _ask _before you _act_. If you can't learn something so basic, then I cannot possibly teach you anything more important"

"Yes Mrs. Fenton"

Maddie sighed and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry that I'm being a hardliner about this, it's more that I'm…upset with Danny more than anything. How could he have something like this in his possession without telling me? Where did he get it? Valerie…look, why don't we postpone any further studies till after your suspension and you go home. Its late, and you have work tomorrow anyway, at Nasty Burger right?"

"Yeah, I'm on the morning opening crew"

"Look, once again I'm sorry to be so harsh, but…"

"it's okay Maddie, I think I need to go home anyway, I don't want to hear any more"

Maddie recognized the resignation in Valerie's voice and sighed once again, deciding to abide by Valerie's wishes. She had more to say to her, but she didn't want to lecture when the best punishment was self-criticism. Valerie was really an honest girl, a little reckless, but she could tell that no further words were needed to emphasize the issue.

"Well then, safe driving and I'll see you in another week"

"Where are you going?"

"To call Danny, and his father. We're going to have a long discussion" Maddie said darkly.

"Where is Mr. Fenton anyway?"

"Went bowling with some friends. But…just worry about yourself"

Maddie typed in some commands on the laptop, before pressing the enter key, casting a final, regretful glance at Valerie, before standing and heading for the basement steps. A moment later, Valerie heard the basement door open and close. She was alone.

She might have seen this coming. Fears imagined were now coming true; Danny and Maddie would have a _long _discussion and Danny would probably be angry with both Maddie and her, her especially. Her relationship with the Fenton family would be tainted. Her education would be affected. Her Dad would find out and lecture her even more about why what she was done was wrong.

If she hadn't just let her obsession with finding answers get in the way. Of course regrets were worthless, but were useful in hindsight. After all, this was an evolving situation that was of her doing; she just wondered to what extent would it cause trouble for her or Danny. It was strange how things had gone south so quickly, in the same way that the results of a bad decision seem increasingly worse as the word spreads. It was an impetus for introspection, but she wanted to be alone, just to think.

She got up wearily; the excitement of the key had long faded away and was replaced with the tiredness of not enough sleep and the fatigue brought on by being suddenly thrown into a bad situation. As she began to step towards the basement steps, she glanced at the workbench where the key was.

Something in her mind once again told her loudly to DO NOT TOUCH but she looked anyway, feeling rather careless now that she was already in trouble. While Lecturing Maddie had arranged some sort of circuit, crude and basic. There was a petri dish with some sort of reddish-green ectoplasm liquid sample pooled in it. The ectoplasm was old; the fluid was very viscous and had lost the fluid nature of fresh ectoplasm, and the inherent glow that all ectoplasmic matter had when infused with energy was gone, indicating that it was long since discharged, but what caught her eye was the words written in Sharpie on the side.

_PHANTOM ECTOPLASM SAMPLE XXIII. COLLECTED FROM COMBAT SCENE. 09-16-07. _

It made sense that the Fentons would have an old sample of his blood from one of his many fight scenes. As much as she was fascinated by Danny Phantom, it was the Fentons who were renowned for pursuing the ghost whenever he had made his appearance, although that had been a year ago before his appearances had become much rarer.

What interested her at the moment was the fact that Maddie had placed two probes into the petri dish and connected them to the wires that were subsequently attached to the key. Realization immediately clicked; she was already beginning to try out various inputs to the hidden energy matrix of the key to try to activate the mechanism. However crude the circuit was, it was passing electricity through an ectoplasmic converter and passing the current through Danny Phantom's sample to achieve his energy signature, before sending the energy through the key itself. Maddie's laptop was monitoring the experiment, although it seemed inactive at the moment.

She looked over the setup with a sort of a passing interest before looking away at nothing in particular, thinking over the events of the day, her heart sinking further.

_What have I gotten myself into? _

She didn't notice that in fact, Maddie had already started the test just before she had gone upstairs. The software was silently testing various levels of electrical charge and voltage being passed through the circuit, a long series of numbers passing down the screen alongside a real time line graph.

**Testing: 150 Volts, 500 mPa **

**200 Volts, 480 mPa **

** 250 Volts, 550 mPa **

** 300 Volts, 560 mPa…Variable One synchronized **

_**Processing…**_

_**Processing…**_

**350 Volts, 540 mPa **

** 400 Volts, 540 mPa**

** 500 Volts, 540 mPa **

** 450 Volts, 540 mPa**

** 460 Volts, 540 mPa **

** 455 Volts, 540 mPa**

** 454 Volts, 540 mPa…Variable Two synchronized **

_**Processing…**_

_**Processing… **_

_**Actuating variables, precise synchronization with (I) Energy Matrix underway**_

0000000**111**00000000**1**0000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000 0000000000

00000**1**0000**1**000000**1**0**1**0000000000000**1**00000000000**1**0000000000000000000000000000 00000000000

000**1**0000000**1**0000**1**000**1**0000000000**1**00**1**00000000**1**000**1**0000000000**11**0000**1**0**1**000000000000000000

00**1**000000000**1**000**1**00000**1**0000000**1**0000**1**00000**1**00000000**1**0000**111**000**11**00**1**0**111111111111111111 **_**Stabilizing…**_

0**1**00000000000**1**00**1**0000000**1**0000**1**0000000**1111**000000000000**1**0000000000000000000000000000 000

**1**0000000000000**11**0000000000**111**0000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000 

_**Final Factors: 2.7 APR, 55 EPS, 454.7 Volts, 540.25 mPa**_

_**Energy Matrix Synchronized…**_

_**Warning…Matrix Activated; Portal Opening**_

"Um…Maddie I think your test is done!" Valerie shouted, but she didn't say anything more.

The key shivered before letting out a low hum, green energy materializing and swirling about it, growing into a steady swirling vortex that expanded rapidly. Valerie looked over, eyes widened, mouth opened to let out a scream as she raised her arms to shield her face.

The Vortex abruptly exploded, blinding her. The entire basement was engulfed in an intense flash of neon emerald, a supernatural scream reverberating through the laboratory.

And then it vanished.

Ectoplasm sensors bleated alarms and the red lights of the ghost detector on the wall flashed sporadically like the warning lights on a diving submarine. Besides the upset alarms, there was only a few things different post-energy expulsion.

The laptop's screen was entirely blue, save the two words on the screen: _FATAL ERROR. _Valerie was gone, and so was the key, the wires it had been attached too wreathed in a faint cloud of smoke, the smell of burnt electronics slowly floating through the basement.

* * *

_AUTHOR's NOTE _

**So I had a battery of 3 tests last week...give or take a few days. Phew, glad to have that over with**

**I think personally that this is my weakest chapter so far, but I dunno, you tell me. I have decided to be a bit more adventurous with the plot, and it certainly thickened. **

**My writing has many errors, I know, please forgive me. Also, Copyright Disowned by me. I own nothing. **

**Thank you to the 10 or so reviewers on the last chapter, special thanks to those who are repeat reviewers and the new reviewers...that is every reviewer! **

**Drk Phoenyx** _special thanks for the review _

**AkumanoshippoNiamh**

**jeanette9a** _special thanks for being a triple time reviewer, if not more _

**Deborahpflover**

**CharlieBoneFan **

**meapzilla2mouse**

**royalfuschia**

**Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet** _Special thanks for being just dog-gone it a thrill to have on board _

**Living Encyclopedia** _Special thanks for your enthusiasm _

**Sammi**

**baby Cyclopes **_Thanks for being so consistant in reviewing. I can always count on your encouragement_


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